Shadows in the Dark
by Hookemhorns12
Summary: Vanquish and Tyranny, two cats trained from birth by Dr. Robotnik to become the ultimate killers. The mission: Infiltrate the Freedom Fighters, and destroy them from the inside. But even the coldest of hearts can have second thoughts. slight sonally OCxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, Hookem here with an entirely new story! This chapter may surprise you, but trust me, it gets better at the end!**

Cold…

It was ever so cold inside the air vent. Not that the inhabitant, or inhabitant_s_, cared, for their clothing and fur kept them warm.

Anxiousness…

Yes, the anxiety! Oh how engulfing! Sadly, only one of the two felt it, for one did not feel emotion. But it was there, for sure.

Waiting…

How long had they been waiting? Five hours? Seven? They had lost track. Not that they cared, for sometimes patience was the key to a successful kill.

A pair of narrowed, serious brown eyes locked gazes with an identical set. Both knew the mission, both knew their part. It was how they worked. It was almost like they were brothers. In fact, they _were_ brothers, in both blood and mind. Even more, _TWIN_ brothers.

They each had a name, but for mission purposes, they chose to use their codenames: Vanquish the cat and Tyranny the cat. They were born, raised, and trained to become the ultimate weapons. They _were_ the ultimate weapons.

The one called Tyranny was the one that felt the anxiousness. Sweat glistened in his burnt orange fur, and he felt tight and itchy inside his black combat fatigues and tactical vest. Normally they didn't carry gear with them, as they had perfected the art of disarming enemies and/or using the environment as a weapon. But this was a big assignment, and they had to make sure that they had the necessary tools for the job. He lowered his night vision goggles to get a detailed view of the space around them. Once again, he was given a close up view of his prone brother, Vanquish.

Vanquish, while exactly like his brother in skill and appearance, was exactly opposite in nature. While Tyranny tended to be brash and violent, Vanquish was quite different. Actually, Vanquish didn't feel at all. _Literally_. Where does his emotion go, you might ask?

'_Damn it all, when's that blue fuck going to stop stuffing his corn hole and get in bed?_' Mitch, an exact clone of Vanquish, snarled irritably as he laid down next to Vanquish. That's where it goes, to Mitch. Mitch isn't exactly _real_ per-say. He doesn't exist, but is only a figment of Vanquish's imagination. Only Vanquish can see him. Only Vanquish can hear him. Only Vanquish can control him.

"Shut up." Vanquish ordered quietly, and venomously, in a monotone voice, as if he were bored. Mitch opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself. Vanquish continued starring ahead with his perfectly emotionless stare.

Tyranny heard the small mutter, and cocked an eyebrow. "What? I didn't say anything!" he hissed.

"…" Vanquish didn't respond. Tyranny rolled his eyes.

"Damn you and your insanity…" he mumbled. Vanquish heard alright, but didn't respond. Normally he would, but he would do it violently. Naturally, being in an air vent when they were trying to avoid detection, he couldn't.

'_FUCK YOU, YOU INSIGNIFICANT PIECE OF SHIT! IF WE WEREN'T IN AN AIRVENT I WOULD FUCKING MAUL YOU!'_ Mitch shouted angrily at Tyranny. Tyranny, of course, didn't respond, as he couldn't see or hear Mitch. He simply sighed and starred down through the grille, where a bright light shone through, partially illuminating the space.

Vanquish lowered his goggles as well. "Let's review the plan." He said. That was another difference between the two. Vanquish was a perfectionist, and as his name suggests, vanquished his enemies with precise and decisive technique, like a sniper rifle, for example.

Tyranny, as his name suggests, was Tyrannical, and preferred simply outmatching the strength of his opponents to subdue them, like a bomb.

They were the perfect blend, and that's why they succeeded.

Back to the present, Tyranny groaned.

"We've already been through this a hundred times!"

"Then let's make it a hundred and one. As father said-"

"As father said: The plan is the law. Yeah, I know." Tyranny said, cutting him off.

"Alright, so here goes," Vanquish said, ignoring Tyranny's protests. "Step one…"

(…)

"**Wait for lights out…"**

"Night, guys!" Sonic called cheerfully to his Freedom Fighter comrades as he walked into his room. His friends gave him their farewells before they themselves retired for the night. Sonic kicked off his shoes and hopped into bed. Next, he reached up and flicked off his lamp. Last, he put his hands behind his head and sighed, falling asleep in minutes.

(…)

"**Step two: Silence the hedgehog, **_**permanently**_**…"**

Both Vanquish and Tyranny's ears perked to the sounds of light snoring. The two shared a nod; they were ready.

'_Oh shit, here we come motherfuckers!'_ Mitch cackled excitedly at Vanquish's side. Tyranny crawled forward on his stomach until he was above the grille. He reached onto his vest and pulled out a screw driver. Within seconds he had popped out the screws holding the grille in place and pulled it up. Tyranny soundlessly laid it beside him and used an expert technique to somersault down and out of the vent. Before he could fall to the floor, he grabbed the edge of the shaft and lowered himself silently down. He landed it a crouch and surveyed his surroundings. The night vision image, though slightly grainy, showed that the room was clear. Tyranny looked up to the shaft and gave Vanquish a thumbs up; all clear.

Vanquish nodded and performed the same maneuver to exit the shaft. He landed soundlessly at his brother's side and drew a knife, a matte black combat model with a seven inch blade, from his belt. He had a gun, sure, but they couldn't risk a mistake. Not when they were smack dab in the middle of the enemy's camp, Knothole. When you used a gun, there was a chance of missing your target, or creating noise. Not with a knife though. With a knife, no matter what you hit your target, perfectly soundlessly.

Vanquish motioned towards the bed, and the two assassins crept silently towards their prey like tigers in the grass. There they stood, directly beside the unsuspecting hedgehog. Vanquish looked down at him, devoid of any feeling. It's what they were bred to do: Kill. Destroy. Hurt.

Vanquish nodded and they began step two. Tyranny roughly put his hand over Sonic's mouth, preventing any noise from escaping. As soon as he did, Sonic's eyes snapped open in panic. They suddenly went wide at the sight of the masked killers, then slowly closed, and never reopened.

Vanquish pulled the knife from his now dead target's throat, and then wiped the blade clean on the sheets. Before leaving, Tyranny pulled the covers over the body, so if anyone came in, they wouldn't raise the alarm unless they got a close look.

'_Pfft, little bastard didn't even put up a fight!_' Mitch spat, glaring at Sonic's body. Vanquish shrugged off the comment and followed Tyranny to the door. They silently pushed it open and sneaked into the underground halls of Knothole.

(…)

"**Step three: You head to the main server room and copy the contents of the hard drive…"**

Antoine sighed, bored, as he stood guard at the door leading into the server room. As usual, he was to spend countless hours just staring at the drab, earth walls of the lone hall, waiting for his shift to end.

What was that? Antoine jerked in surprise to the sudden, light noise. His eyes furiously scanned the hall, but found nothing. He felt a small bead of sweat form on his temple, but shook it away. It was nothing! There couldn't be anyone here at this hour! Perhaps it was simply someone trying to play a trick on him? Yes, that was it!

"Ha! Ha! Very funny!" he called sarcastically. "But zhe joke is over!"

"So is your life." A man's voice whispered in his ear tauntingly. The sudden voice caused Antoine to jump about a mile into the air. Before he could tell off the unseen man for scarring him, he felt a sharp pain in his upper back. Suddenly, his world started to spin, and his vision began to go black. Every breath he took burned like hell, and he felt his shirt becoming wet. Curious, he slowly reached a hand up to the spot. When he brought it in front of him, he, for some reason, remained calm, despite the fact that it was covered in his own blood. He'd been stabbed.

He grew weaker by the second as his life drained from him. His knees buckled, and he collapsed to the floor, unable to call out for help, unable to fight back against his faceless assailant. His vision grew darker still, until finally, it went completely black…

Tyranny smiled cheerfully at his clean kill. He grabbed Antoine's dead body by the armpits and dragged him back into the server room, where he dumped him in a dark corner. He stood up straight and searched the room for a terminal. When he found it, he fished a flash drive from a pouch on his vest and inserted it into the USB port, then began the timely process of hacking into the server, and transferring all of the files from the hard drive to the memory stick…

(…)

"**Step four: While you do that, I will search for and eliminate key figures…"**

Vanquish watched Tyranny disappear around the corner. He waited a few moments before deciding to go the opposite way. He sneaked down the hall, as unnoticed as a wraith, ready to hide or kill at any waking moment.

He heard voices up ahead, female voices, if he wasn't mistaken. He followed the voices until he found himself at the top of a closed spiraling stair case that descended into darkness. He could hear the two women conversing at the bottom. Once again he lowered his night vision goggles and walked through the archway, taking each step at a snail's pace until he reached the bottom. When he did, he was given a view of a small kitchen/living area. Thankfully, he was safely concealed in the shadows inside the archway. At the sink were two women, as predicted. A rabbit and a squirrel. The rabbit was strange to say the least. Her legs and left arm were robotic! Other than that, she was normal. Vanquish recognized her as Bunnie Rabbot- D'Coolette, an important member of the Freedom Fighters. She would have to go.

The second was easily recognizable. Sally Acorn, leader of the Freedom Fighters. No matter what, she had to be eliminated. Without her or Sonic, the whole group would fall apart. This they knew from the weeks of recon they'd performed in preparation.

Vanquish pressed himself against the wall in the shadow, his uniform blending in seamlessly, and listened in on the conversation:

"Thanks for helping me with the dishes, Bunnie." said Sally.

"You're welcome, princess. Let me tell you, when you told me that Sonic could eat nine chili dogs in less than five second, I didn't believe you." Bunnie replied with a laugh. This was followed by laughter from Sally.

"I didn't either when I first met him…" she mumbled. Silence.

"So how are things between you?"

"Oh, they're going fine. Just last Friday we snuck a visit out to Station Square for a little dinner." Sally replied. There was a gasp from Bunnie.

"Sally, you _know_ that traveling long distance is dangerous for us!"

"Relax, Bunnie. We were never in any danger."

"If you say so- Hey, you can leave now if you want, I'll handle the rest." Bunnie said.

"Thanks, Bunnie. Night."

"Night." Bunnie replied. Vanquish could hear muffled footsteps slowly walking towards his position. His grip on the knife tightened considerably, and he sat perfectly still, ready for anything.

Suddenly, Sally Acorn walked directly past him, completely unaware of the danger just a mere foot away in the dark. Vanquish waited for her to become completely concealed by shadow before quickly and precisely lunging. He place a hand over her mouth, silencing her, then quickly swiped his blade across her throat in a slitting motion. Blood began to pour out of the incision, and she fell limp in his arms. He laid her down on the stairs, out of sight, and turned to face the secondary objective.

'_Heh, watch your step, princess…_' Mitch chuckled with an evil smirk, kneeling next to Sally's body. Vanquish glared at him and returned his attention to Bunnie.

Bunnie had her back to him, facing the sink, completely oblivious to the carnage. Vanquish grinned in satisfaction, but immediately shook his head, banishing away the emotion before it could take control. Emotion lead to thought. Thought lead to hesitation. Hesitation lead to failure. And failure lead to death, or worse, capture. Even with his equipment and skills, he could not take on the whole Freedom Fighter army, and he knew that.

**POP!**

Vanquish stiffened at the noise. He'd been so caught up in stalking his prey that he hadn't watched where he was going, and had stepped on a plastic soda bottle.

'_See what happens when you let your emotions free?'_ Mitch asked knowingly, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. '_Oh shit, the bunny chick heard it! Get ready for a fight!_'

"HEY, WHO'RE YOU?" Bunnie shouted at him, turning around. "AND WHERE'S SALLY?" she asked. That's when she saw the knife, with crimson blood dripping slowly off the point. She gasped in surprise. For a few moments, she looked like she was about to curl up into a ball and weep. But suddenly, she jumped up, a fearsome snarl ablaze on her face. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" she roared and used her powerful legs to launch herself at Vanquish.

'_HO SHIT!'_ Mitch yelled and dove out of the way. Vanquish had no such time to dodge. Bunnie brought up both of her powerful robot legs and kicked him in the chest. All the air was knocked out of him and his knife flew away as he flew back at great speed and slammed into the dirt wall, creating a loud _THUD_ and causing sediments to shake loose from the ceiling.

Vanquish was stunned. His whole body hurt like hell, he couldn't see, and there was an enraged cyborg trying to kill him. He had to get up, he had to keep fighting. He fell off the wall and collapsed face first on the floor below. He heard Bunnie in front of him, raising her leg to stomp him flat. He rolled out of the way in the nick of time. Bunnie's foot, instead of crushing his skull like an egg, went through the floor. Vanquish's vision became clearer, and he could see that Bunnie had gotten her foot stuck. He felt a lump in his throat and coughed up a little blood. His ribs had to be broken from such an impact. Off to the right, he could see Mitch jumping with joy.

'_HOLY SHIT MAN! YOU'RE ALIVE! NOW GO KICK HER ASS!'_ Mitch rooted. He sat on the couch like the bleachers at a sporting event. Vanquish got his emotions in check, and then crawled back up to his feet. He charged at Bunnie, eyes emotionless and focused. At seeing him coming, Bunny growled and brought back her left hand in a fist, ready to send a wallop in his direction. Vanquish was ready. When he was within arms' reach, Bunnie lashed out. He grabbed her wrist with his left, and then quickly spear chopped her Adam's apple with his right. Bunnie inhaled sharply and gagged. Vanquish let her go and she collapsed to the floor. He reached down onto the floor for his fallen knife. He brought it up over his head, ready to bring it down and finish the job. Suddenly, He felt Bunnie's hand grip his ankle. He didn't even have time to look down as he was flung across the room and into the couch, knocking backwards and sending him tumbling across the floor. He rolled over on to his back and was met with a furious Bunnie, holding his own knife.

"See you in hell, you bastard- AH!" Bunnie was cut off mid-sentence. She remained stoic for a few more moments before falling dead to the ground with a pool of blood forming around her. He looked up and saw the smirking face of his brother. Tyranny clutched his own blood soaked knife in his hand. With his other, he reached down to help Vanquish up.

"…**And if you finish your part early, rendezvous with me to help me with mine…"**

"I see you got your ass kicked!"

"Yes, I did." Vanquish said. "On with the mission."

'_GRAAAGH! SEE WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENS WHEN YOU FEEL EMOTION? YOU ALMOST FUCKED UP THIS WHOLE MISSION, YOU DUMB ASS!'_ Mitch roared, walking beside him. Vanquish and Tyranny briskly walked out of the kitchen and back up the stairs. There were two more targets of interest: Rotor the walrus and Miles "Tails" Prower. Both had to be eliminated due to their mechanical skills, which could be used to create weapons for the Freedom Fighter cause.

They each split up; Vanquish went for Tails, while Tyranny went for Rotor. Vanquish crept down the hall, pushing the pain in his chest to the back of his mind. Pain could wait, but the mission couldn't.

He read the names on the doors until he came upon the one that was labeled "Tails". He raised his knife, lowered his goggles, and then slowly entered.

The room was pitch black, and the sounds of breathing could be hear. Vanquish navigated through the dark until he stood above the lump under the covers. Right before he was about to bring his knife down, the lump rolled over in its sleep. Not even a hardened killer like Vanquish could be prepared for what met him.

'_Oh fuck, it's a kid man!'_ Mitch whispered in disbelief at Vanquish's side.

"…" Vanquish remained silent. Surely there was a mistake? Surely Miles "Tails" Prower couldn't be this young adolescent fox before him? He pressed a hand to his earpiece.

"Vanquish, what is it?" his father's voice asked irritably.

"Father, I've infiltrated Miles Prower's room. The only person I see is a young fox, about eight or nine at most. Please confirm." Vanquish whispered, still starring at the fox. The seconds slowly dragged past, and Vanquish felt something he hadn't felt in a long time: anxiousness.

'_Shit, man, please don't let this boy be Prower. I can feel your anxiousness. You don't want to kill him, do you?'_ Mitch asked, walking in circles around Vanquish. Vanquish shook his head, banishing his emotions once more. Mitch fell silent.

"It's just a training mission…" Vanquish said, more to himself than Mitch (which, in hindsight, _is_ to himself). Finally, his father's voice came back over the comms.

"Target confirmed. Proceed as planned." He said. Vanquish nodded and studied the point of his knife. Then, like a lightning bolt, he struck. Miles "Tails" Prower died painlessly, and without a sound.

'_Holy shit, you are one cold motherfucker , do you know that?_' Mitch asked in shock as they left the room to meet up with Tyranny. Vanquish ignored him. He and Tyranny met by one of the many exits of the underground portion of Knothole. They climbed up the ladder and out of the hatch, and into the above ground portion, filled with bridges that spanned the trees, and different buildings in the tree tops. They quietly climbed upwards into the tree branches, and started jumping from one to the next, getting out of Knothole…

… And out of the blast radius…

"**Step five: destroy all evidence and head to the extraction point…"**

_**KABOOM!**_ Vanquish and Tyranny didn't look back as bright orange light filled the night. They could feel the heat of the explosion from hundreds of feet away. When they reached the extraction point, they pressed a button on their belts.

Suddenly, everything around them started turning transparent. The hologram was deactivating, going from a life like model of Knothole, to the massive simulation room at their father's castle- AKA, what _used_ to be the Castle Acorn.

"Good job, boys," said a man's voice that they instantly recognized. A door near them opened, and their father came strolling towards them, the most cheerful smile on his face. He was not their biological father, that they had known for a long time. For one, he was a human. A very fat human, with eerie, black eyes and red pupils. Where his ears should have been were two metal plugs, and he had a massive orange mustache. His right arm had been robotized as well.

Their very own parents had died when they could remember them, but they didn't care, for this one man easily filled that hole. He'd taught them all that they know, and raised them to be the best that they could be, so that they may one day collect their revenge upon the people that killed their family: the Freedom Fighters.

That man, was Dr. Ivo Robotnik.

"Any further orders, father?" Tyranny asked, standing at attention next to his brother.

"No, Tyranny, that's all for today. Get some rest tonight, boys, because tomorrow, you will embark on the most important mission of your lives." Robotnik said to his greatest creations before turning and leaving…

**Read and Review!**


	2. The Welcome Mat

**Hey guys, did you like that last chapter? You did? Good, because there's a lot more on the way! PREPARE FOR AWESOMENESS!**

Vanquish and Tyranny sprinted through the forest, weaving in between the trees. Lasers and bullets alike whizzed past them and slammed into trees, but that didn't frighten them the least bit. Right now the goal was to lose their pursuers, AKA, about fifty or so Robotnik Empire soldiers…

(…)

"_Good morning, boys. I trust that you are both well rested?" Robotnik asked as the two entered his office, an ornate room that used to belong to King Acorn himself._

"_Yes, father." They replied in unison, standing at attention across from him. Robotnik smiled and nodded._

"_Today," he said while activating a projector on the wall. "Is the day you've been training sixteen years for. The day you finally take revenge on the accursed Sonic the Hedgehog." He said proudly. A large picture of the blue menace himself appeared on the screen…_

(…)

Vanquish hopped over a fallen log, which was blown to pieces from a laser.

'_OH SHIT! WHY THE HELL DID WE ENGAGE THAT CONVOY?'_ Mitch shouted fearfully, running next to him.

"Shut. Up." Vanquish ordered and continued running. He glanced over at Tyranny, who jumped up and bounced off a tree to avoid a wall of bullets. He looked back at him and nodded.

It was about five months since the training simulation, and they'd long since changed out of their tactical gear and now wore standard civilian clothes. Vanquish was dressed in an OD green, long sleeve tactical shirt, blue jeans, and black combat boots. On his back was a slim one-strap back pack with all sorts of gear and gadgets in it, including a Five-seveN pistol with an external laser microphone and sound and flash suppressor combo. Around his neck was a blue neckerchief, and he wore his night vision goggles around his forehead, and he wore black fingerless gloves.

Tyranny was dressed exactly the same, only his neckerchief was red. For his pistol, he had stuck with his beloved silenced M1911 .45, an old relic that he had found while wandering the "badlands", a huge desert area that spans over what used to be the great lakes area before the Xorda attack in the twenty first century…

(…)

… _The twins studied the photograph. Vanquish was the first to speak._

"_Father, what is our mission?"_

"_I thought you'd never ask! Your mission will be daunting, it will be long, it will test you each to your limits. But, if you should succeed, Sonic the Hedgehog and the Freedom Fighters shall be no more." He explained. He stood up and put his hands behind his back. "First, we are going to turn you loose. We will use your previous missions to create a false image for you two. You will become two guns for hire in the fight against my *ahem* 'tyrannical oppression'."_

"_Turn us loose?" Vanquish asked._

"_Yes," Robotnik replied. "As soon as you two leave the gates of the castle, you will have a three day head start before I put you two as number two on the Most Wanted list. Once those three days are up, I will try my hardest to have you boys captured and killed. So keep in mind that my soldiers are your enemies."_

"_We understand." They replied in unison. _

"_Good. Now, I will give you two some gear to start." Robotnik said. He snapped his fingers and two SWAT bots walked out from a shadowy corner, each carrying a back pack and civilian clothes._

"_What do we do when you start hunting us?" Tyranny asked._

"_I want you two to act like just another one of these 'teams' that roam the planet trying to defeat me. Cause general hell. Assassinate major generals, blow up a factory or two, but just don't do anything that will cause lasting damage to me." Robotnik explained. "And then, once you two become well known around the people, I want you two to try and get in close with the Freedom Fighters. Make them believe that you're their friends. Once you've become their allies, do anything to keep their trust while destroying them from the inside…"_

(…)

…Back to the present, Vanquish saw that the trees were thinning out. He heard the sounds of roaring water ahead. There was a river that ran through the Great Forest, and there was also a waterfall. That would be their escape route.

"Tyranny, do you hear that?" Vanquish asked through his ear piece.

"Yeah. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yes." Vanquish replied and sped up. Mitch started panicking.

'_Oh hell no! You crazy bastards aren't really considering jumping off the top of that thing, are you? You'll be dead for sure!'_ Mitch cried.

"Shut up…"

(…)

"_Again, I cannot stress enough that I will try my hardest to kill you." Robotnik said seriously. "Keep in mind that no one beside us and a select few know of your existence. The soldiers don't know that you're my sons. To them you're just another target. But I trust that you will use your skills wisely."_

"_Yes, sir." They said. Robotnik smiled._

"_Go then, complete the mission you've been training for your whole lives for…" he said. Vanquish and Tyranny took their gear and left the office. The timer had started, they had three days…_

(…)

…And since that time limit had expired, they'd accomplished so much. They had acquired an official name amongst the people. Like _Team Rose_, _Team Sonic_, or _Team Chaotix_, they had become _Team T.W.O._

It was an acronym for "Tactical Worldwide Operatives". They traveled the globe, completing jobs for the highest bidder. If you needed someone dead, someone protected, or something destroyed, they were the guys to call. While most teams were composed of three people, they were the only team to have two. That didn't hinder them in any way. The thing that they lacked was a member who could fly, but they could always steal a ship or helicopter if need be.

Also, they didn't carry large firearms. If they needed extra firepower, then they would steal weapons from fallen enemies, and then toss them away when they were no longer needed. This method was used to keep their packs light, and increase speed and mobility. This helped considerably, as they were each extensively trained in parkour, which is how they mostly got around an area.

Up ahead, Vanquish saw the edge of the waterfall. He ran at full speed towards a tree, jumped up, planted a foot on it, and then launched himself higher into the air. Tyranny did the same. Vanquish flew through the air and grabbed a tree branch, which he swung off to gain altitude. He landed on another tree branch and began jumping from one to the next, putting one foot in front of the other. The waterfall grew nearer and nearer. Finally, Vanquish hopped onto a single, long branch that extended out over the edge some twenty feet up. Vanquish ran like a tight rope walker along the length with Tyranny right behind him. At the edge he looked down. It was about sixty feet to the bottom, where there was nothing but rapidly moving water.

'_HOoOOOOLY SHIIIIIIIIIT!'_ Mitch shrieked as he jumped. He flailed his arms and legs, trying to line himself up perfectly. When he was sure of where he was going to land, he assumed the position and hit the water like a jackknife. The world suddenly turned dark, and there was a faint roaring in his ears. He fought and clawed his way to the surface, where he took in a lung bursting breath. The water was cool, but not too cold. He searched frantically for his brother, and found him to his right.

"You alright, bro?" Tyranny called over to him as they were carried downstream. Vanquish nodded and floated on his back.

"Tyranny, rapids ahead." Vanquish warned.

"Yeah, I see 'em." Tyranny responded. They each rolled onto their backs and placed their legs downstream. This technique allowed one to safely float through a set of rapids, the legs acting as probes to detect rocks up ahead and to cushion impacts.

The water flowed faster and faster, pulling them along at great speed until the first set came upon them. They quickly raced through the rapids with little trouble. Once they reached the end, they rolled over onto their stomachs and swam to the sides, into a calm eddy. Vanquish climbed up on shore and helped his brother up behind him. His clothes and fur were soaked. Thankfully their backpacks were waterproof, so their gear was safe.

'_My god, don't you EVER do that again!'_ Mitch grumbled, shaking the water from his fur and trudging onto the bank next to them.

Tyranny checked the PDA strapped the underside of his wrist. Vanquish had one as well.

"According to these coordinates, Knothole is somewhere in this area." He said.

"Let's start walking then." Vanquish said and trudged in the direction that the arrow pointed. Tyranny followed. "So why hasn't father given us an exact location?"

"He's never been able to. Apparently, Knothole's location has been unknown for years. All we were able to dig up is that it's inside the Great Forest."

"I see," Vanquish said quietly. "So do you think we lost them?"

"Who, those soldiers? Yeah, we lost 'em. There's no way they could track us." Tyranny replied with a wave of his hand. Mitch sighed with relief.

Why had they been chased in the first place? It was quite simple actually. Occasionally, they would have to restock on supplies, and what better place to get supplies than a supply convoy? Sadly, they had misjudged the amount of security, and had become overwhelmed. However, they didn't come out empty handed. With them they had taken fifteen thousand dollars, five hundred rounds of ammunition, and a shipping manifest containing locations, dates, schedules, and codes.

As they walked, their clothes and fur quickly dried off in the crisp spring sun. It was a cloudless day, and the only sounds were those of the chirping birds and the breeze flowing through the leaves. Vanquish closed his eyes, a feeling of immense calm washing over him. For once, the internal struggle to fight his emotions was gone. When this was all said and done, perhaps he would build a home here.

'_Man, even a cruel dude like you has to admit that it's nice out here.'_ Mitch said as he casually strolled beside him. Vanquish stared off into space. It was, sure, but it was better not to dream. He was a killer, a soldier, an assassin. This is what he did, this is what he was good at. He knew that he would continue to do so until the day he died, whether of old age or combat.

"…bout building a house here?" Tyranny laughed, bringing him out of his day dream. Vanquish shook his head, glaring at himself for losing focus and toning out his surroundings, something his father had stressed on many occasions.

"What?"

"I said: Are you still day dreaming about building a house here?"

"…" Vanquish remained silent and looked ahead. Tyranny laughed.

"I can't believe it! My own brother has turned into the world's largest puss! What's next? You wanna be an interpretive dancer?"

**SMACK!**

"OW!"

"Shut up." Vanquish commanded, still starring ahead. Tyranny glared at him and wiped some of the blood from his own bleeding nose. Of all the people in the world, Tyranny was one of the few who could make Vanquish show some type of emotion. Unfortunately, he instigated anger and annoyance more than anything, to which Vanquish reacted swiftly and violently. As soon as he'd gotten his hit in, he'd return to normal.

"Damn insanity…" Tyranny groaned.

'_Um, I would shut up before he hits you again.'_ Mitch suggested. Suddenly, there was a rustling to their right. Both Vanquish and Tyranny reached into their holsters and drew their pistols. They trained it on the rustle.

"Hey, you! Come out, nice and slow, with your hands behind your head." Vanquish barked. First, a hand popped out of the shrubbery, then a leg. Finally, a whole fox came out. She was a woman, for sure, with short brown hair with a yellow bow in it. She wore a skin tight yellow jumpsuit that sharply contrasted with her dark red fur. When she saw them, she rolled her eyes.

"Hold your fire, _soldier_." Said Fiona Fox sarcastically. The twins lowered their weapons, but didn't re-holster them. It was standard of their paranoid nature. Fiona only rolled her eyes and sighed. "You two are those assassins right? Eh, what're your names? Vanquish and Tyranny, that's it!"

"And you're Fiona Fox, correct?"

"Yeah. Anyways, so you two want to join up with the Freedom Fighters, eh?" Fiona asked, leaning against a tree. The two put away their weapons. Tyranny nodded. "Well, we don't even know if you guys have what it takes, so we were thinking…"

"What the hell's going on…?" Tyranny whispered. Vanquish didn't respond. Instead, his eyes and ears combed the surrounding area. A rustle in the shrubbery, a leaf falling from the tree above, a scrape.

'_They're out there, watching our every move…'_ Mitch warned. '_There's about three on either side of you. Two above in the trees, and another six coming from behind…'_

"Thinking what?" Vanquish asked finally. The movement was sudden, but clear. With just a flick of the wrist, Vanquish told his brother all he needed to know…

…Get ready for an ambush…

"That maybe…" Fiona said with a mischievous smirk. "You could… SHOW US WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF!" she shouted. At the shout, fourteen Mobians leaped out of the bushes at once. Vanquish and Tyranny got back to back, and took combat stances.

Vanquish reached up and grabbed the rabbit that was dropping down by the wrist and flung him into the bear to his left. Then he spun to his right and jumped into the air. He brought back both of his feet and kicked as hard as he could, sending the tiger flying into a tree. He hit the ground in a crouch and dove under the last four. They collided in mid-air and fell to the ground in a heap. Vanquish looked over to his brother, who was using brute force as usual to subdue his attackers. He could handle himself, because right now Fiona was after him.

"Not bad," Fiona grunted as she swung her foot around. Vanquish ducked just in time. "Not many people make it through that. But rest assured, I will be different."

'_Cha, tell me about it…'_ Mitch said with a roll of his eyes while leaning against a tree.

Vanquish blocked a jab to his nose and followed up with an uppercut that sent her reeling. She swayed on her feet and rubbed her jaw.

"Hitting a lady, huh? How polite…" Fiona growled and attacked again. Vanquish could just barely dodge or block the endless barrage of fists and feet. He slowly backed away, focusing solely on avoiding getting hit. He was certain he would never be able to fight back, until finally he saw his chance. Fiona threw a powerful right hook at his cheek. On instinct, he brought up his left arm in defense. Fiona's forearm made contact with his and rebounded sharply, knocking her off balance. This left her torso completely open. Vanquish raised his right foot, and kicked her in the chest as hard as he could. Fiona flew backwards and tumbled along the ground. Vanquish rushed at her. Fiona quickly picked herself up and snarled. As soon as Vanquish was in range, she roared and threw the most powerful punch she could muster in the short amount of time. It was an impulse hit, formed from vengeful rage, and not skillful technique, thus making it very inaccurate and sloppy in form. It missed him by a mile.

'_Finish her.' _Mitch said in a perfect recreation of the _Mortal Kombat_ announcer. Vanquish grabbed her wrist and yanked her towards him. He kneed her in the stomach, causing her to double over, and then brought his elbow down on the back of her skull. She instantly went to Dreamsville. Vanquish caught her before she could hit the ground and turned to face the other fourteen Freedom Fighters, who were attacking Tyranny from all sides. He cleared his throat and barked the sentence that always crushed enemy morale.

"I've incapacitated your leader! Surrender or face the consequences!" he barked like a drill sergeant. At his command, the attackers froze and starred at him in shock. A small mouse spoke up.

"O-oh my god! What'd you do to F-Fiona?" he asked in shock.

"He killed her!" another shouted. Pretty soon the whole mob was squabbling in fear and surprise. Vanquish channeled his anger to Mitch and shouted again.

"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!" He barked. The mob fell silent once more. "She isn't dead, she's unconscious. She'll wake up in a couple minutes. Now, take us to Knothole." He ordered.

"What? You got shit in your ears? MOVE!" Tyranny shouted. Without hesitation they scurried off through the brush, motioning for them to follow…

(…)

"Princess Sally! Princess Sally!"

Sally sighed in exasperation and wheeled around. "What, Antoine?"

"Come quickly! There are new arrivals to the village!" the tail-less coyote said urgently and grabbed her hand. Sally rolled her eyes and allowed herself to be dragged out of the community hut that lied at the center of Knothole. Antoine led her up a flight of stairs, over a bridge, and to the watch tower. He pointed in the Eastern direction, where she saw a large group of Mobians coming in their direction. She picked up a pair of binoculars and scanned them.

"My god, it's that team we sent out to intercept Team T.W.O.!" Sally gasped. They were still alive, thank god. Sally focused on the one called Vanquish, and saw an unconscious Fiona draped over his shoulder. She had believed that no one, even the trained assassins, could possibly defeat all fifteen of them. She was wrong, and now she would have to welcome these monsters into her home. She sighed and remembered what Sonic had said earlier…

"_Sal, we need all the help we can get in this war. Those two would be the perfect addition to the Knothole Freedom Fighters. And here they are, wanting to join. We can't pass this up!" the hedgehog said excitedly._

"_I don't know… You do remember our rule about killing, right? That's what they'll do, kill. We can't allow them to do that. They go against everything that us Freedom Fighters stand for. They're nothing but guns for hire, profiteers. Not to mention, they've also completed missions for our enemies!"_

"_Sally," Sonic said in a serious tone. He reached across the table and took her hand in his. "What's done is done. But if we're ever going to win this war, we'll need some heavy firepower."_

_Sally thought it over and sighed. "Fine…" she said reluctantly…_

…And here they were, the world's greatest assassins, right at their doorstep…

(…)

"So this is Knothole, huh?" Tyranny wondered aloud. The timid looking mouse from earlier nodded, his eyes still alight with fear.

"Y-yes, this is Knothole. Home of the Freedom Fighters and headquarters of the resistance movement." He stammered quickly. They entered the village, passing primitive, as well as modern huts. People came out and stared at them in awe. They'd all heard stories, seen pictures and videos, but here they were in the flesh, the one thing that the Robotnik Empire actually feared more than the Freedom Fighters themselves.

"It's a lot nicer than I expected." Vanquish muttered. Mitch was glancing around curiously.

'_Man, that model was off by A LOT! That wasn't there, nor that!'_ he observed. '_And THAT wasn't THAT big!'_

"Shut up." Vanquish growled under his breath. The tiger he'd kicked glanced at him.

"Did you say something?"

"I was wondering when we were going to meet Sonic the Hedgehog or Sally Acorn." He lied in reply.

"Oh! O-of course! We'll be there shortly. First, we have to drop off Fiona at the medical wing." The tiger explained.

'_Heh, right.'_ Mitch chuckled, nudging Fiona with a finger.

"What's your name?" Vanquish asked suddenly. The tiger's eyes widened.

"W-what?"

"I asked what your name was."

"Oh, um, Ace. Ace the tiger." He said quickly.

"Nice to meet you, Ace."

"Oh, nice to meet you… too- here we are!" Ace said, relieved to be rid of them. He gestured down a set of stairs leading underground. "The medical wing's the third door on the left, and Princess Sally's office is at the end." He instructed.

"Thank you, Ace." Vanquish said gruffly and carried Fiona down the stairs with Tyranny at his heels.

"That went better than expected." Tyranny whispered.

"We're not out of the woods yet." Vanquish warned. He walked down the hall, which was almost an exact replica of the one he'd seen in the simulation. It had dirt walls, a dirt roof with fluorescent lighting, and wooden doors with labels. He came to the one marked "Medical" and knocked.

"It's unlocked!" a woman's voice called from inside. Tyranny stepped in front of him and opened the door.

"Ladies first- OW!" he yipped after Vanquish kicked him in the shin.

"We have a special delivery." Vanquish grunted.

'_Damn, Fiona Fox is heavier than she looks!'_ Mitch observed. Vanquish glared at him, forcing him to disappear. He looked ahead to see a room lined with hospital beds and medical equipment. This room did not have earth walls. It had dry wall installed, with tile floors. A door to his immediate right opened, and a grey wolf stepped out of an office. She wore camouflage pants, brown boots, and an unbuttoned, green BDU shirt with an aquamarine tee shirt beneath that. Her ghost white hair was fashioned in a ponytail, and she had eye shadow that matched her undershirt.

'_Da-ha-ham! Hello gorgeous!'_ Mitch said with a low whistle. Vanquish once again willed him to go away. When she saw Fiona over his shoulders, she gasped in surprise and horror and dropped her clipboard. Her easy going grin vanished, replaced with a mask of horror.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?" she shouted. When she saw Vanquish and Tyranny, and recognized them, her shock turned to anger. Vanquish's eye twitched. He recognized her. They'd met before, years ago. Hopefully she wouldn't remember them. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER, YOU MONSTERS?" she shouted.

"She attacked us as part of the initiation, so I simply knocked her out." Vanquish replied, unfazed by the outburst. The wolf, whose name was Marie from what Vanquish read on the name tag next to the office door, put her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow.

"That was never part of the initiation process!"

"That's not what she said."

"Hmmm… argh, lay her down on a bed, and then get out of my sight." Marie snarled. Vanquish carried Fiona over to one of the beds and gently laid her down. As they turned to leave, Vanquish stopped next to her.

"So what's your name?" Vanquish asked casually as she worked on reviving Fiona.

"Marie." She replied in an unfriendly voice.

"Nice to meet you, Marie, I'm-"

"Everyone here knows who you two are," Marie snapped irritably. "So let's not pretend you never did all the stuff you did."

"I'd like to think we've turned over a new leaf…"

"Good for you, now get out." She growled. Vanquish's eye twitched again. They walked out of the medical wing and shut the door behind them. Mitch was jumping up and down tauntingly.

'_OH! Was that fear and irritation I sensed?'_ he taunted. '_I wouldn't know, it's been so long since you've felt the former. And wow, another person besides Tyranny that could piss you off! I guess we can add her to the list!'_

"Shut up…"

(…)

Sally sat behind her desk with Sonic at her side. Each little _tick_ of the wall clock sounded like the clap of an executioner at a hanging. She stared at the door, almost fearing what was about to walk through it. And since her first attempt to get rid of them had failed, she would try again. She would give them a more challenging mission, one that has been nagging them for months. If they succeeded, which they most likely wouldn't, good for them. That would get rid of one problem, and they'd be allowed to stay. If they failed, then they would die, thus ending another problem. Either way, she came out on top.

The sudden noise made her jump out of her fur. It was a light, but firm knock at the door. She and Sonic shared a glance and nodded.

"Come in." Sally called. The door swung open, and the object- or object_s_- of her attention stepped inside. She studied the two felines with curiosity. This was the first time she had met them in person, and she was surprised, to tell the truth. She noticed that while they looked perfectly identical in appearance, they were polar opposites in personality.

The one called Tyranny appeared to be more outgoing and cheerful, and he had an air of confidence about him.

The one called Vanquish, well, he intrigued her. She'd heard stories about him being emotionless, unable to feel. She felt a growing sense of terror as she looked into those dull, alert eyes. They seemed to be boring into her very soul, picking out her weaknesses and deciding how and when to attack. Every once in a while they flittered off, scanning the room. She could see no emotion what so ever within them.

"As you've probably heard, we've defeated that little group of grunts you sent out." Tyranny said, breaking the silence. Sally nodded, her grip on the arms of her chair tightening just that much more. Vanquish crossed his arms.

"I was told that it wasn't part of the usual joining process. Is this a new policy?" he asked. Sally's eyes narrowed.

"One can never be too careful of his or her new recruits…" she muttered. Once again, she felt the icy stare of Vanquish, and resisted the urge to shudder.

"Understandable. But an employee can never be too trusting of his or her _employer_." Vanquish shot back. Sally glanced at Sonic for help. Luckily, he was able to give it.

"Well, the main thing is that you passed the test!" Sonic said optimistically.

"So are we in?" Tyranny asked. Sally spoke next.

"Not quiet, there is one mission you must do. If you succeed, you will become official members of the Knothole Freedom Fighters." She said. Vanquish leaned forward in his chair.

"We're listening…"

**Read and Review!**


	3. Initiation

**AN: Evil beware, we have tacos. Anyways, I've set up a new poll on my profile. If you would be so kind as to swing by and cast a vote, I would deeply appreciate it… AND, I might just do a request story or two… ;)**

_August 26, 3238- 13:19:02 SMT_

_Ruins of Chicago, Illinois, "The Badlands"…_

"Shh… Steady…" Vanquish whispered through the comms. They lay silently beneath the sand, waiting for the patrol to pass. It was a large patrol of Robotnik Empire soldiers, a mix of all three types.

In the Robotnik Army, there were three types of soldiers: Traitors, Robians, and SWAT bots.

"Traitors", as they were called by the people, were un-robotized Mobians who had sworn loyalty to Robotnik's cause rather than be robotized. They were usually your standard grunts, with boots and a rifle. They were the easiest to handle.

Robians were Mobians who had been captured and robotized. They were nothing more than slaves, completing any task assigned to them without question, even if it cost them their life. It was always a delicate situation when they were involved.

Last, and more easily recognizable, were SWAT bots. Not to be confused with Robians, they were exactly the same in nature, only easier to deal with, for there lay no soul beneath the metal shell.

The patrol slowly trudged by, and Vanquish let himself release the breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

'_Whew, that was close!'_ Mitch whispered while lying next to him.

"Vanquish, let's roll." Tyranny whispered through the comms. Vanquish nodded and stood up. They simultaneously rose out of the sand that had built up over them due to a previous sand storm. They had decided to wait until the next patrol passed by before executing the mission. Vanquish shook some loose from the tan shirt he'd changed into for this op. To protect their faces from the arid climate, their bandanas were raised over their noses, and their goggles were lowered to protect their eyes.

About a mile to their North, the ghosts of sky scrapers long abandoned loomed out of the dust in the air. Tyranny took a moment to view the awesome scenery. Vanquish tapped him on the shoulder and motioned for him to follow. Tyranny nodded, and they set off, creeping forward like a horde of avenging wraiths. As they advanced, Vanquish thought back on how they'd gotten here…

(…)

_It was morning, and the twins were gathered in the planning room with the heads of the Freedom Fighters: Sally, Sonic, Antoine, Tails, Rotor, and Marie. Tyranny casually stood next to the hologram projector in the center of the room, while Vanquish stood in a shadowy corner, observing everything from his vantage point. That, and he wasn't the most social person. Sally cleared her throat, and a model of the Chicago Ruins, out in the center of the Badlands, appeared on the projector for everyone to see._

"_Vanquish, Tyranny, we have a mission for you." She said. "Think of it as the final initiation process. You pass, you're in."_

"_Sweet! What's the plan?" Tyranny asked. Sally nodded._

"_Your mission is to capture General Caleb Hawthorne." She replied and pressed another button. A picture of a young turtle in military dress appeared on screen, as well as biographical info. "Nicole, if you would?"_

"_Yes, Sally." The AI's voice said from the speakers. Suddenly, the model of Old Chicago began to shift, then zoomed in on the tallest building: the Evans Tower. From what they had learned in their history lessons, the Evans tower was a monument to a boy who lived back in the year 2012 named Wyatt Evans, who, with help from unknown accomplices, had driven away the Xorda from Earth and saved the planet from total annihilation. The structure was the most ambitious project of its time, and was over one mile high. It was held up by thick steel cables six feet in diameter, with smaller cables supporting those._

"_For months, the Robotnik Empire has occupied these old ruins," Nicole began. "Why? We have no idea. Luckily for us, General Hawthorne has been on sight for a couple of weeks now, overseeing the proceeds of whatever's happening. He's set up shop in the Evans Tower."_

"_So what do you want us to do?" Tyranny asked. "Take him out?"_

"_No, we simply want you to capture him." Nicole said with a hint of disgust. Everyone else in the room gave them a sort of bewildered look. _

"_Essentially," Vanquish piped up from the shadows, causing everyone to jump. "It's a personnel recovery op?"_

"_If you wish to put it that way, then yes."_

"_Fine. Tyranny, suit up." Vanquish ordered and headed to the door. Tyranny followed close behind._

"_Remember, no killing!" Sally called after them… _

(…)

They'd been dropped in earlier in the day by the _Freedom Fighter Special_ about five miles from the old city. They'd hoofed it the rest of the way, all the while evading the constant patrols. Normally they would've just killed them all, but today was different.

'_How the hell are we supposed to do this without dropping a couple guys?'_ Mitch asked. Vanquish shrugged him off and continued forward. He reached up and flicked on his goggles' thermal setting, allowing him to see multiple warm bodies loitering around the gates to the recently fenced off downtown area, the only area still standing. He nudged his brother, who instantly understood. They both went prone in the sand and observed.

"Any ideas?" Vanquish asked. Tyranny nodded.

"It looks like another sand storm's picking up. I guess they used to call it '_The Windy City_' for a reason. We'll be invisible when it kicks up, so that'll be our chance to get over the fence and into the city."

"It's a good thought," Vanquish complemented. "But aren't the fences electrified?"

"Yes, but that shouldn't be a problem for us…" Tyranny muttered. With that, the two felines fell silent and waited. Minutes later, the wind had kicked up a lot, and visibility had been reduced to only about five feet. Luckily, their thermal vision helped with that. They even watched as some of the gate guards retreated into a small shack next to the checkpoint. Now was their chance. They rose out of the sand, checking to make sure another patrol wasn't coming, and rushed for the fence. Parked with their rear doors against the fence, three light cargo trucks sat motionless. Their hoods formed a ramp that could be used to reach the top of the trailer. Vanquish noted this and sprinted for the middle truck. At five feet and closing, he used an ammo can as a springboard to launch himself onto the hood. From there he ran upwards, over the windshield and onto the trailer. Tyranny was right behind him. He ran along the length of the trailer to the back end. From there all it took was a simple leap over the electrified fence. He landed in a roll and came up in a crouch, ready for hostiles. There were none. He heard a dull _thump_ as Tyranny landed beside him.

"You're in, good." Nicole's voice said from his earpiece. She'd been able to utilize their goggles' wireless function to be able to see the world through their eyes. That meant she could see whatever they saw. "Now, make your way to the Evans Tower without being seen. And remember-"

"No killing. Yeah, we got it, _mom_." Tyranny interrupted cockily. The line went dead.

'_Hey Vanquish!'_ Mitch called. Vanquish glanced over to see his imaginary counterpart peering through the windows of the guard hut. '_Hit the floor! It looks like Private Ryan's taking a smoke!'_

"Tyranny, get out of sight." Vanquish whispered. They simultaneously dropped to the sand and sat perfectly still. Sure enough, the door to the guard hut swung open, and a lone squirrel, a traitor, with an assault rifle stepped out. He wore a heavy protection suit that covered his whole body, save for his eyes, where there was a standard pair of protection goggles. If he'd had thermal, it would've been a disaster. The squirrel pulled out a cigarette and a lighter, and then took a long drag from it.

'_Shit, he's coming this way!'_ Mitch cried at Vanquish's side. The soldier casually strolled over to where they lay, starring off into space. Luckily, he wouldn't be able to see them unless he looked directly down at them and focused. Vanquish flipped on his thermal vision again for better visibility. The soldier walked until he was not six feet from their position. However, he starred off in the opposite direction at the massive buildings not one hundred yards in front of them. While the windows had long since been blown out, and some walls were torn down, it was still a spectacle to behold.

"I don't think he's gonna leave anytime soon. And the longer we stay out here, the higher the risk of being caught." Tyranny hissed. "We have to take him down."

"Go for it, but make sure to keep it quiet and non-lethal."

"Roger that." Tyranny chuckled darkly and silently crept forward. He slinked right up next to the guard and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, you got the time?"

"Oh yeah, just let me- Wait a minute!" the squirrel said in surprise, throwing down his cigarette and fumbling with his assault rifle. Tyranny grabbed the barrel of the weapon and shoved it away from him, then punched him in the throat, silencing the desperate shouts for help that would've shortly followed. They both heard Nicole and a few others gasp in shock in their earpieces. Tyranny then wrenched the weapon away from him and kneed him in the groin. As the squirrel soldier bent forwards, Tyranny raised the butt of the weapon and brought it down. There was a sickening crack which, luckily, was lost in the sound of the howling wind, and it was all over. A small trickle of blood flowed from the back of the soldier's head as he lay, face down, in the sand.

"He's down." Tyranny said casually.

'_Ya think?'_ Mitch asked sarcastically while nudging the unconscious soldier with his foot. Vanquish hopped up and grabbed him by the armpits, then dragged him out of sight behind a lone shrub. It wasn't adequate cover, but it would have to do. Sooner or later his friends would come looking for him, so they had to get moving. Tyranny pressed the mag release and let the clip fall from the rifle, then tossed it away.

"We need to move." Vanquish whispered. Then, they set off, following the arrow on their PDAs towards their objective. They ducked into alleys and shady side streets, and cut through derelict buildings long forgotten, all the while avoiding the constant patrols combing the streets.

"Just think," Tyranny whispered as they sneaked through a half destroyed apartment building. "Millions of people used to live in this city…" Vanquish had to agree. They were close. The Evans Tower was not but eight blocks away. The massive structure loomed out of the dust and sand, nothing but a giant black mass that blocked out the sun and stretched endlessly into the air. The Sears Tower had collapsed long ago due to age and neglect. The Evans Tower had been a little better built, but even Vanquish had to wonder why anyone would want to take the risk of setting up shop inside of it. Perhaps the General wanted the high ground? If that was the case, he certainly had it.

Tyranny led them into another alley, which was a dead end. But, their goal was to reach the rooftops, where they could access one of the four massive steel cables that supported the tower. It was by using them that they would gain entry. They saw a fire escape that looked to be in decent condition, and decided that that would be their means of ascension. Tyranny went first. He rushed for the wall opposite the ladder and ran up it. Once he was high enough, he twisted himself around and pushed off the wall. He sailed through the air with his arms outstretched, and just _barely_ caught the bottom rung of the ladder. He swung back and forth for a moment or two before reaching up to the second, then the third. Finally, he was on the first level. Vanquish nodded, but instead simply climbed on top of a dumpster and climbed up a drain pipe. From there he simply stepped onto the platform and swung his legs over the rail.

"Let's go." Vanquish ordered and started climbing the stairs. When they reached the top, it wasn't hard to find the cable. It had no rails, but it was easily wide enough to traverse if one watched his step. It sloped gently upwards towards the three hundredth story. General Hawthorne's office was on the two hundred ninety seventh. This would be a long journey indeed.

'_Damn! You fall, and we're sending you home in a coffee can!'_ Mitch said with a low whistle.

"Shut up." Vanquish snarled, his right eye twitching like mad. Long before Mitch had been created, he'd had the deepest fear of heights imaginable. Even now, with Mitch there to harbor his emotions, it still came back to bite him in the ass.

"Vanquish, let's go!" Tyranny grunted and climbed up onto the cable. Vanquish clenched his eyes shut and drove the excess emotion from him before joining his brother. He stared blankly at the long trail ahead and took a deep breath. Then, slowly and steadily, they moved forward. As they walked, the ground became farther and farther away until they had risen above the rooftops of the sky scrapers. Both Vanquish and Tyranny realized that they were sitting ducks out here. All it would take is a precise shot from a sniper, and they would be done. Hey could only go back or forth, and there was no cover.

'_You had better pray to GOD that no one looks up.'_ Mitch stammered, peering over the edge. Vanquish judged the distance with mental math. If an average level was about ten feet from floor to ceiling, he reasoned, and they were level with the two hundred eighty fifth floor, then ten multiplied by two hundred eighty five equaled…

"We're about 2,850 feet above the ground…" Vanquish muttered.

"Yeah, don't remind me." Grumbled Tyranny. Like his brother, Tyranny had a fear of heights as well. It was only through his training that he was able to face that fear.

'_Seriously, DON'T…'_ Mitch snarled.

"I'm surprised no one's seen us yet." Tyranny mused. But, as soon as he said that he had to drop to his stomach to avoid a burst of machine gun fire. Another burst rang out, causing Vanquish to drop as well. "Where's it coming from?" Tyranny asked in surprise. Suddenly, the high pitched squeal of a loud speaker resonated through the whole city.

"I know you're here, _assassins_," General Hawthorne barked at them through speakers set up throughout the city. "And I know what you're here to do! Mark my words, you won't have my life, you sons of bitches!"

"There!" Tyranny shouted over the deafening sounds of the hundreds of rifles firing at them from below. Vanquish followed his finger and saw General Hawthorne himself holding a SSW-.50 LMG. The turtle was standing in the window of his office, which had been blown out to allow him to fire.

'_HOLY SHIT! QUICK! DO SOMETHING BEFORE WE GET TURNED INTO SWISS CHEESE!'_ Mitch whimpered as he ducked under a sniper's bullet. Vanquish grit his teeth as the sparks from metal hitting metal burned his cheeks where the bandana and goggles didn't cover. If they didn't move soon, they'd be blown to pieces, quite literally.

"TYRANNY, REACH INTO YOUR PACK AND GRAB YOUR FLARE GUN!" Vanquish shouted over the hellish cacophony.

"WHAT?"

"JUST DO IT!"

"ALRIGHT, I HOPE YOU HAVE A PLAN!" Tyranny yelled and did as he was told. He arched his back upwards, putting himself in the line of fire for a few seconds, and laid back down with his emergency flare gun in hand. Vanquish waited for a lull in the gunfire before grabbing his own flare gun.

"ON THE COUNT OF THREE, FIRE EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT AT HAWTHORNE!" Vanquish barked.

"IT'S HOPLESS! WE _HAVE_ TO KILL A FEW GUYS IF WE'RE GOING TO SURVIVE THIS!" Tyranny said desperately. Vanquish's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"No, we're going to win, while playing by their rules…" he growled.

"Vanquish, Tyranny, what's happening?" Sally asked from their comms. They ignored her, for there were other things to do.

"ONE, TWO, THREE!" Vanquish counted. Tyranny quickly raised his flare gun and fired five shots in rapid succession at the window. Vanquish stuck his arm over the side of the cable and emptied his gun into the streets below. Suddenly, the gunfire slowed, but did not cease. The flares burned with such intensity that it was like watching ten suns shine at once. Thankfully their goggles helped protect them from the blinding light. "GO, GO, GO!" Vanquish shouted. They each sprang up and ran as fast as they could for the tower, going higher still. They ran until Hawthorne's window was just below them. They each took a deep breath and jumped…

(…)

Sally, Sonic, and all of the Freedom Fighters were massed in the briefing room, watching live feeds from Vanquish and Tyranny's goggles. Their breaths got caught in their throats as the two jumped. The ground, almost a mile below, was the only thing beneath their feet. They sailed closer to the building, the window of their target becoming closer and closer. Finally, the moment of truth. They each arched their legs forward to soften the impact, and the floor of the office came up beneath their feet. There was a moment of disorientation as they rolled, but it was cleared when they popped back up. That's when they saw the office door slam shut…

(…)

'_O-oh my god! We did it!'_ Mitch panted, his whole body still trembling from the experience. Vanquish couldn't help but have a newfound appreciation for solid ground.

"After him!" Tyranny shouted and vaulted over the wooden desk. Vanquish followed suite. They each charged for the double doors at the far end and launched themselves into the air. Vanquish aimed for the left door, while Tyranny aimed for the right. They each brought back their legs in a side kick and smashed through the doors, leaving them in splinters. They quickly engaged the four SWAT bots waiting for them, using precise and accurate blows, before speeding off down the corridor. They followed it down to the end and hooked a right, where they caught a small glimpse of Hawthorne as the elevator's doors closed. They ran to it and started pounding on the button.

'_Fuck!'_ Mitch growled. '_Quick, think of something! We have to get down their fast, and the stairs are out of the question.'_

Vanquish tried desperately to form a plan, but Tyranny had him covered. He brushed past him and planted a breaching charge on the door. Vanquish acknowledged and back away to a safe distance. Tyranny clicked the detonator.

**BANG!** The charge went off, blowing the doors apart. Vanquish watched his brother jump into the shaft and grab onto the cable, then slide down it into the darkness below.

'_NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND! NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND! NOT WHAT I HAD IT MIND!'_ Mitch whimpered.

"Shut up." Said Vanquish, ignoring him. He jumped out into the shaft and felt his fingers and legs wrap around the thick steel chord. He then eased the pressure, and began to slide down, trying desperately not to look at the endless expanse of darkness that he knew was a couple thousand feet deep. To help him ease his growing anxiety, he flipped on the night vision mode on his goggles and saw Tyranny not too far below him. Even farther than that he saw a little speck of light, the elevator. Some would think that they were crazy for doing this, some would say that they had a death wish, and some would say that they were fearless. Anyone with any sense, however, would know that there is almost no difference between the three…

(…)

Marie watched the live feed with a growing terror. What if they slipped? What if they fell? What if they got killed? There would go one of their main assets in the fight against Robotnik, their greatest chance of ending this war.

She may not have liked the bastards- No, she flat out _hated _them, but she couldn't deny. They were _good_…

(…)

The slide seemed to take forever. The minutes of making sure that he wouldn't fall dragged slowly past. Finally, the elevator in question stopped at the second floor, and so did they. Tyranny landed soundlessly on the elevator and moved out of the way to allow room for Vanquish. When Vanquish's feet touched the ground, he felt an internal sense of relief flow through him. They each listened intently as they heard Hawthorne rush off the elevator.

"You two! Watch the elevator! Kill anyone that comes through!"

"Yes, sir!" the two unknown soldiers replied. Tyranny looked to Vanquish for acknowledgement, and then quietly opened the emergency hatch on the roof of the car. He peered through and told Vanquish of his findings.

"There's two of 'em."

"Obviously."

"You pick the _best_ times to be a smart ass, you know that? Anyways, there's one on either side of the door, armed with small arms."

"Well then, we know how this'll end." Vanquish muttered and reached into his backpack. He pulled out a stun grenade, and Tyranny grinned evilly.

'_Me gusta…'_

(…)

General Caleb Hawthorne paced the large office intensely. How did those damned assassins find him? Why did they want _him_ dead?

"Damn it all, where are they?" he muttered angrily under his breath and cast a glance at the elevator, which still hadn't gone back up to call on more passengers. He could feel his own heart hammering in his chest. The fact that he didn't know of their whereabouts scared him deeply.

"Sir, are you sure that they're taking the elevator?" the collie on the right asked, not looking away from his SMG-9. The other soldier, a sugar glider, looked back at him through his helmet.

"Where else could they go? The whole damned city is on high alert! It was only through sheer luck that they made it out of that alive." Hawthorne snapped irritably. By now the paranoia was getting to him. Ever small sound sounded like a footfall or gun being cocked. Oh god, make it stop!

_**CLICK!**_ The small noise made everyone jump. Hawthorne watched as one of the soldiers craned his neck to get a better view of the inside of the elevator. Suddenly, a small black cylinder clattered into the room.

"FLASHBANG…!"

(…)

"FLASHBANG!" someone inside the room shouted. The Freedom Fighters were on the edge of their seat, waiting in anticipation for the final takedown. There was a dim flash of light and a loud explosion from the room. They watched as each feed dropped to the floor and rushed out of the elevator at the stunned trio. Vanquish went for the soldier on the right and grabbed him by the throat. He planted a hand on the back of the poor sugar glider's head and slammed it down on the desk that he was using as cover, making a loud _**CRACK!**_ That caused everyone to wince.

Tyranny's goggle cam showed him striking the collie on the back of the skull and then kneeing him in the face when he surged forward from the first blow.

All of this occurred in 1.2 seconds.

They both looked up and focused on General Hawthorne, who was standing, still stunned, with his back to the massive second story window that overlooked the streets below. The glanced at each other and stormed him at the same time. At hearing their footfalls, Hawthorne had the sense to bring out his pistol and fire blindly. They all gasped in horror when they saw Vanquish's cam crumple to the floor. They watched him bring a hand to his chest, and then bring it back up to his face. It was soaked in his own blood.

At seeing his brother wounded, Tyranny roared and lowered his shoulders and extended his arms. He rammed into Hawthorne with the force of a charging bull and wrapped his arms around his waist in a tackle. They both reeled backwards and crashed through the window. They fell, with Tyranny on top, about twenty feet to the streets, where they landed on the roof of a parked car with a loud crash.

Hawthorne, stunned from the impact, instinctively brought up a hand in defense. Tyranny shoved it aside and slammed his fist as hard as he could into the other man's face. Hawthorne was out like a light, his nose broken. Tyranny stood shakily, panting, and put a hand to his ear.

"Vanquish, do you copy?" he asked. Silence. "Vanquish! Come on, you pussy!" he shouted suddenly, causing his audience to recoil. "GET UP, YOU BASTARD! I KNOW YOU'RE TOUGHER THAN THAT!" he roared desperately. There was more silence, and then, surprisingly, the sound of coughing.

"Tyranny…" Vanquish coughed. "I've… I've been shot… one in the chest… one… one in my hip…"

"Stay put! I'll get you out of there!" Tyranny called. He glanced back down at Hawthorne, who was still unconscious, and hopped off the car. Sally, slightly angered, grabbed the microphone.

"Tyranny, don't leave Hawthorne!" she ordered sternly.

"He's fine. No man left behind." Tyranny assured, much to her annoyance…

(…)

Vanquish dragged himself up and sat heavily against a desk. His right hand was pressed tightly against the wound in his chest. Luckily, it was a 9mm, and therefore made a clean cut. If it were a .40 or .45, the wound would've been more severe. The bullet appeared to have just missed his heart.

He shrugged off his backpack, and with one hand dug around inside for a med kit. Every move he made hurt like hell, and the pain in his hip didn't help either. Suddenly, he felt something coming up, and leaned off to the side to cough up blood.

"Vanquish, it's Marie." A smooth voice said soothingly from the comm. "Where have you been hit?" she asked.

"In the chest and hip." He replied weakly. He pulled out his small medical kit from his bag and pulled out some antiseptic, gauze tape, and cotton wadding.

"Did the bullet hit anything vital?" she asked again in the same calm voice that most doctors possessed.

"Not that I know of, though it does kind of hurt to *cough* breath…" Vanquish whispered. He felt weak. He was losing a lot of blood. Maybe there _was_ an afterlife after all, he thought dryly, maybe _that_ would be his one chance to find peace…

'_Hey man, DO NOT give up that easily!'_ Mitch said. '_You've still got a lot to live for!'_

"Like…?"

'…' Mitch didn't reply, instead sat next to him with a sigh. '_You know, all these years I've been holding your emotions for you, whenever you were SUPPOSED to feel anger, I felt it instead-'_

"VANQUISH!" Tyranny's voice pulled him from his pre-death dreary. His twin rushed around a corner and ran to his side. "You're gonna be fine! We're gonna get out of here! Just sit tight and try to conserve energy, got it?"

"Just patch me up… and get me back in this…"

"Same ol' Vanquish…" Tyranny chuckled and reached down for the medical supplies that Vanquish had pulled out. He dabbed a little antiseptic on the wounds before stuffing them with cotton wadding. Last he wound the tape tightly around him. "Alright, let's go home. I hear they're making spaghetti for dinner tonight." At his words, Vanquish's ears perked slightly. It was a known fact that spaghetti was his favorite. He reached a hand down and helped his twin to his feet. "There we go, nice and easy. Can you walk?"

"Barely…"

"Alright then." Tyranny said and allowed Vanquish to put an arm around his shoulder for support. They hobbled back down the stairs and out the front doors of the building. When they arrived, they found Hawthorne stirring. Tyranny gave him a kick to the head for good measure before commandeering an old pickup truck. He placed Vanquish up in the bed of the truck and handed him an assault rifle.

"Fuck those rules." He said bluntly, much to the Freedom Fighters who were listening's displeasure. Vanquish nodded and set the weapon beside him. Tyranny walked back over to Hawthorne and grabbed him by the shirt. He dragged him along the sand concrete to the truck, where he was roughly tossed into the back row of seats. Tyranny then climbed into the driver's seat and hotwired the vehicle. The truck roared to life, and he took off down the deserted streets. That's when Hawthorne fully regained consciousness.

"BLOW IT!" the General shouted frantically into his radio.

_**KABOOM!**_ A series of powerful explosions went up along the length of the Evans Tower. Large chunks of debris began to rain down, and the tower swayed violently. General Hawthorne began to laugh.

"IF I'M GOING TO DIE, WE ALL DIE!" he shouted. Tyranny snarled and knocked him unconscious once more before gripping the wheel with white knuckles. He pushed his speed up to 70 mph as he streaked through the streets of Old Chicago. As the minutes went by, more and more debris fell from the tower, and there was a loud rumbling that shook the earth beneath their feet.

"Tyranny, Vanquish, the whole tower's coming down! GET. OUT OF THERE" Sally ordered.

"Working on it." Tyranny grunted and jerked the wheel to avoid a semi-truck sized chuck of stone that had crashed down in their path. They swerved to the left and hurdled down a side street, rushing by a fleeing group of soldiers. A couple of blaster bolts from some SWAT bots struck the side of the truck, but they were quickly out of range. "Sally, how do we get out of here?"

"Head straight until you reach a plaza, then turn right and head straight, you'll be back to the gates in a matter of minutes from there."

"Roger that." Tyranny responded and hung up. He floored the accelerator, pushing his speed up even further, to about 109 mph. The surrounding buildings were nothing but little brown blurs at this speed. The debris was coming down like a hellish rain. Large chunks of stone and steel slammed into buildings like meteors, causing further destruction. Suddenly, the whole area was covered with a dark shadow.

This was it. The Evans Tower was coming down on them, and they were still very far from the gates. Up ahead, he saw the plaza, and spun the wheel to the right, causing the truck to drift and spin in their desired direction. A huge piece of stone came down on the large fountain in the center, flattening it. Just twenty blocks away, Tyranny saw the open space of The Badlands.

"Hold on, Vanquish!" Tyranny shouted and put his foot down. The truck rocketed forward at over 120 mph. It was a straight shot, either they made it or they didn't. Behind them the debris of the tower was chasing after them, falling in a continuous line that struck nearer and nearer. Tyranny chanced a glance back over his shoulder and went pale.

The whole tower was falling on its side, and it was only half a mile from crashing down on top of them.

"COME ON, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! MOVE!" he shouted.

"Come on, Tyranny! Drive!" Sally urged from his earpiece. Up ahead he saw the gates.

"Shit…" he muttered. The gates were still closed, and the vehicle barriers meant to keep them from going out or in were still up. They were trapped…

(…)

"Shit…" Vanquish heard his brother mutter from the driver's seat. He had been so transfixed by the massive tower that was about to crush them that he hadn't been paying attention to what was ahead. He peered over the top of the cab and saw the barrier. Then, glinting in the sun, he saw the three trucks still parked in their original spots. One of those trucks, he observed, was a fuel truck. Strangely, it was a truck meant to carry _rocket_ fuel. Vanquish noted this, and thought it odd. But, he was not one to question father's logic. In the meantime, he had to think of some way to survive this.

He reached down and picked up the assault rifle, then steadied himself on the roof of the truck and took aim at the truck.

"Hold her steady!" he shouted over the noise.

"Got it!" Tyranny replied. Vanquish zeroed in on the direct center of the tank. Hopefully it wasn't empty. He took a breath and blocked out his surroundings, then squeezed the trigger.

There was another explosion as the truck went up in flames, along with the other two next to it. This left a huge gap in the fence that the truck could get through. And not a second too soon, for they were not one hundred yards from the fence. Tyranny adjusted his course accordingly and shot through the gap. Vanquish felt the truck's tires grip the sand and drive. Finally, the tower hit the ground after its long tumble, shaking the Earth with the power of an atomic bomb and sending dust and sand into the air. The shockwave overtook them, reducing their visibility drastically. However, they were very much alive.

"WE DID IT!" Tyranny cheered. They each heard thunderous applause from their earpieces. Another mission accomplished. "Let's get back to HQ, get you patched up, and get some food in us, how does that sound?"

"Let's…"

**READ AND REVIEW!**


	4. Memories

The Freedom Fighter Special roared across the skies over the Great Forest. Vanquish and Tyranny were both seated in the troop bay, starring at the ground far below.

Vanquish's bandages were started to get soaked through with blood. He felt himself becoming weaker as the time slowly passed. He had to rest his eyes, if only for a minute.

'_Hey, don't you dare close those eyes!'_ Mitch warned, slapping him across the face. Vanquish couldn't help it. He was tired. He needed rest. '_Hey, are you listening to me? DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES!'_

But vanquish didn't hear the last part, for he was already slumped in his chair…

(…)

Tyranny turned away from the window long enough to cast a glance at his wounded brother. Instead, he was met by a grim sight.

At seeing Vanquish unconscious from blood loss, he quickly jumped up and ran to the cockpit.

"STEP ON IT!" he shouted through the door. He ran back to Vanquish and laid him down on the row of seats. The other Freedom Fighters on board were less focused on the still unconscious Hawthorne and more so on the assassin. It was a somber sight, to see what most thought of as indestructible… in such a pitiful form…

(…)

…Vanquish's eyes snapped open. His ears felt as if they had water in them, and everything was a blur. He was lying down on a bed of some sort, and there was a bright light directly above him. He suddenly realized that he had no shirt on, or pants, or shoes. His only garment was his black compression shorts. Through the haze he fought his way up to a sitting position, but a soft hand firmly pushed him back down.

"Don't move, just relax…" a soothing voice commanded. Vanquish recognized the voice. He opened his mouth to speak, but a tube was thrust into his mouth before he could utter a word. He pursed his lips and drank until his thirst was quenched, and then allowed himself to rest. Eventually, he fell into another dreamless sleep…

(…)

Marie the Wolf starred down at her newest patient. He looked so… peaceful. So… calm. Just like, in a weird way, if he were lying in his grave. Speaking of which, thanks to her, he wouldn't have to visit it for a while longer.

It'd been challenging to remove the bullets without causing any internal damage. But, she'd pulled it off and gotten him a blood transfusion. Lucky for him, the bullet missed his spine, so he would be able to walk again after he recovered.

At first, she'd been so consumed in the heat of the moment that she didn't even take notice to his physique. But now that everything had calmed down, she had to admit, he was _hot_. No, he was flat out _sexy._ She gazed down at his half-naked body, almost longingly, and felt her cheeks burn. She may have hated him-oh yes, how she hated them both!- but she couldn't deny that they were good looking. Perfect sized, muscular arms and legs, and washboard abs from years of hard training.

However good looking they were, she told herself, it still didn't make up for what they'd done to her. She glared down at his sleeping form, hatred coursing through her veins. She wanted to kill them, end the lives of these wretched creatures. But, she couldn't. They were too valuable…

(…)

Three days later, Marie sat at one of the tables in the mess hall in Freedom HQ. She stared across the crowded space at Vanquish, who was dressed in a simple tee shirt and sweats. Because of his hip, he had to hobble along with a cane, something, she noticed, he _hated_.

No, he didn't openly show it. As a matter of fact, he almost never showed any signs of emotion. She only assumed that he didn't like it because of the muttered curses whenever he needed to go somewhere but the cane slowed him down. On a brighter note, he found it more useful as a beating stick for whenever Tyranny annoyed him, which was quite often.

She watched as Vanquish hobbled over to a back corner table with his breakfast. He took a seat next to his brother and began eating. He was there for not ten seconds before he raised his cane and smacked Tyranny on the head with it once again.

"Ooh! Marie has a crush!" Amanda joked from next to her. Marie turned and glared at the rabbit. She and the rest of her friends began giggling.

"Like anyone could harbor feelings for those bastards..." Marie spat, crossing her arms. Laura gasped.

"Don't say such things!" she gasped. "How could anyone pass up two hunks like that?"

Marie only rolled her eyes. Being that choices were few in the Freedom Fighters, it was only natural that the girls would pounce at the new guys. In Marie's mind, she'd take Rotor over those two any day.

Without a further word, Marie stood and tossed away her plate, and then headed back to her office. Once inside, she shut the door behind her and sat heavily in her office chair. She leaned forwards and put her head in her hands. No matter how hard she tried, the memories kept coming back to haunt her…

(…)

_Station Square School of Medicine_

_2200 SMT_

_One year ago…_

"_Ms. Wolf, I'm glad you've come." The gray-haired human greeted as Marie walked through the door._

"_You wanted to see me, Dr. Washburn?" she asked, sitting across from him._

_The human nodded grimly. "I assume you've heard about Robotnik discovering our city." He mumbled darkly. Marie nodded solemnly._

"_Is that why you've called me in here?"_

"_Yes. You see Marie, there aren't many other Mobians apart from you in this city. And since Robotnik found out about Station Square, I'm afraid that any day now he's going to send in a surprise raiding party to hunt down those few. So, what I'm telling you is…" he paused, as if contemplating what to say next. "I'm afraid you're going to have to go."_

_Marie recoiled, her eyes the size of dinner plates. "W-what?"_

"_Disappear! Marie, in the few short years you've been enrolled in this school, you've risen to become my star pupil. I know how much you've given up to be here, but I could never see you chucked into one of those 'robotizers'. You're like a daughter to me." Dr. Washburn admitted sadly. "So I must ask you to get out while you still can, and use your already amassed knowledge to help others in need."_

_Marie nodded, but reluctantly. "But what about you? If Robotnik hears about you helping Mobians-"_

"_Yes, I know the consequences." Washburn interrupted, putting up his hand. "No more talk of this, you must leave, and you must leave soon. If you don't-" Washburn was cut off by a short burst of silenced machine gun fire from downstairs, followed by a scream. Both of them jolted in surprise. Marie glanced over at her mentor and surrogate father, who looked completely calm. "They're here…"_

"_Who?" Marie asked, But Washburn ushered her into a small closet._

"_Stay here. And no matter what happens, you stay silent, do you hear me? ." Washburn ordered sternly. Marie sniffed and nodded, trying to fight back the tears. She peered through the slit in the door and saw Dr. Washburn calmly sit behind his desk and start filling out paperwork. As the minutes flew by, the gun fire grew louder and closer. But suddenly, it all stopped. For a second Marie thought that it all had stopped, that the bad guys had left. She was wrong…_

_There was a knock at the door, heavy, but clear. Washburn stood and walked to the door to answer it, but no sooner had he laid a finger on the knob was he blown across the room by a breaching charge. Marie felt tears stinging her eyes as she saw him crash over the desk. She watched him pick himself up slowly and lay his head down on the desk. That's when she saw them. Two orange furred cats, she could tell from their tails sticking out from their full body suits that covered everything else. Over their eyes were a pair of night vision goggles, giving them an eerie look. They each carried a silenced sub machine gun and wore a tactical vest laden with all sorts of gear. It was impossible to tell the difference between them. _

_One of the cats pressed the barrel of his weapon to the back of Washburn's head._

"_Where is she?" he asked in a plain, almost emotionless voice. While he was doing that, his other began scanning the room._

"_I… don't know… who you're talking about…" Washburn panted weakly. The cat raised the butt of his weapon and bashed the poor human across the face with it. Washburn raised a hand to wipe the blood from his nose._

"_You do know who I'm talking about. And you will tell me. So, I'll ask again, where is she?" he asked plainly. Marie felt a searing hatred towards the feline who would dare touch the man she loved like a father. Suddenly, the view of Washburn was blocked out by a large black shape. Marie nearly screamed. She was looking directly into the lens of a pair of night vision goggles._

"_No need to ask, I found her!" he cried triumphantly. He swung open the door, giving her position away to the rest of the people in the room. At seeing her, the cat that was interrogating her father raised his sub machine gun and pulled the trigger. There was a muffled *cough*, and Washburn was no more._

"_NOOOOO!" Marie shrieked, tears openly flowing from her eyes. She watched with horror as Washburn's brains splattered all over the wall behind him. Marie roared and charged out of the closet, hungry for the blood of her father's killer. Before she could even get a foot, she was grabbed by the back of the shirt and flung to the floor. Suddenly, she was looking up at the barrel of the other gun. The holder of the weapon began to chuckle._

"_Another successful mission, Vanquish." He cackled and aimed. Marie shut her eyes and prepared for death's final call. She flinched when she heard the muffled report, but was surprised when she was still alive. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the one called "Vanquish" holding the barrel of the gun and pushing it off to the side. She felt immense relief. _

"_No, father ordered us to spare her." He said sternly._

"_Aw come on! Like he's going to care!" the other said and raised his gun again. Vanquish once again shoved it away._

"_Orders are orders…" he growled lowly and grabbed Marie by the scruff of the neck, lifting her off the floor. Marie's heart was in her throat, and she was too petrified to do anything against her attacker/savior. She watched him lift his goggles, revealing two cold, narrowed brown eyes. They locked with hers, and she found herself unable to look away. Vanquish pulled her in close._

"_Leave this place. Disappear. Never show your face again. While doing so, tell the tale of what's happened here to everyone you meet. Is that clear?" he whispered menacingly. Not waiting for her to respond, he tossed her to the floor. Then, as quickly and suddenly as they'd come, they were gone…_

(…)

And one year later, Marie still had nightmares. She saw little tear drops splattering on the wood below her face.

Her dreary was shattered by the click of the bolt to the door outside. She peered out of the window and saw the object of her thoughts hobbling in. She sighed and stood up, then headed out…

(…)

Vanquish entered the medical wing, hobbling along on his cane. What had been a dull throbbing pain this morning was now a searing, hellish feeling. He hobbled over to one of the beds for his daily dose of morphine.

He looked up and saw Marie step out of her office. He scanned her facial features alertly.

'_Has she been crying?'_ Mitch asked in disbelief. '_Holy shit, she has been! About what? Oh god, she looks pissed about something!'_

"Shut up." Vanquish mumbled under his breath and locked gazes with Marie.

"Hello Vanquish." She mumbled while filling a needle. Vanquish gave her a silent nod and raised his shirt up to reveal his bandaged wound. Marie then slowly eased the needle into his flesh, pressing down the back and sending the liquid shooting into him. Vanquish grit his teeth at the needle's burn, but it quickly passed as the morphine took effect.

Just as he was about to hop up and leave, Marie roughly threw him back onto the bed.

'_What the hell was that for?'_ Mitch asked in surprise, waving his hands in Marie's face. Vanquish watched as Marie brought back the hand with the needle in it and sent it hurling towards his neck. He quickly reached up and grabbed her wrist in a death grip, stopping the point just mere inches from the flesh. Vanquish was about to take further action, when he saw tears beginning to slide down her cheeks.

"Why?" she asked. "Why'd you do it?"

"Do what?" Vanquish asked in genuine puzzlement. Marie snarled angrily and tried once more to plunge the needle into his neck, but Vanquish's grip held firm.

"You know what! Station Square, one year ago! You killed Dr. Washburn, you bastard!" Marie shouted at him. Vanquish's eyes widened.

'_Shit, she recognized you! She RE-COG-NIZED you!'_ Mitch shouted fearfully. '_Quick, make something up! You're an assassin, remember? But whatever you do, DO NOT link the killing to Robotnik!'_

"It was just another contract." Vanquish lied calmly. Marie's eyes narrowed, and for a moment Vanquish truly believed that she had seen through him. But eventually, she relaxed, if only slightly.

"Who sent you then?" she asked. Vanquish shrugged.

"We don't know, he never told us his name. He wanted to keep his identity secret." Vanquish lied again.

'_Heh, bullshit! You remember that night as good as she does. Don't you? Insertion at nightfall, infiltrate the school, clear the building, take out Washburn, leave the girl alive as a scare tactic…'_ Mitch droned off. Vanquish's eye twitched. Marie pressed harder against his grip.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." Vanquish replied. At that moment, Marie pulled the needle away and flung it across the room.

"Now get out of my office, and the hell out of my sight!" she snarled angrily, pointing at the door. Vanquish simply stood up and walked out. As soon as the door shut, Marie collapsed against the wall, sobbing…

(…)

Vanquish shut the door behind him. Mitch was having a ball screwing with him.

'_Oh, someone's feeling a little guilty!'_

"Shut up." He snarled. He heard footsteps and turned to see the fox- Tails was his name!- running down the hall towards him.

"Vanquish!" the boy squeaked.

"Yes?"

"You're needed in the interrogation room!"

"Very well." Vanquish said and allowed the young fox to lead him. So Hawthorne still hadn't talked, huh?

**Read and Review!**


	5. Strike one

**AN: Hey guys, Hookem here with a question. **

**So anyways, I've been reading the comics and watching the SATAM shows lately, and I've been thinking…**

**Should I try to model the story after the show? (IE: light cursing, minor violence (there'll still be killing and guns, but it won't be so graphic), and more hand-to-hand combat)**

**Let me know in your reviews! If you want this, I'll simply edit the last couple of chapters a little, and there'll be almost no difference in your experience!**

Vanquish followed the young fox up the stairs and above ground. They walked through the village streets, eventually reaching on of the spiral stair cases that ascended the trunk of a tree. They circled around up that until they reached the top, where a metal tree-house like structure sat. It had no windows, only a door.

"He's just inside. We'll be watching from the observation room." Tails said, holding open the door for him…

(…)

Sally sat, bored, in her chair in the small observation room just outside the prisoner holding cell. She, Sonic, and Antoine watched through a sheet of one-way glass at the tired looking Hawthorne. The turtle had been tied to a chair, kept under intense interrogation for a few hours now. Needless to say, he wasn't in the best of shape. However, being Freedom Fighters, they had sworn not to use violence, so his will was just as strong.

Suddenly, the door opened in the cell, and Hawthorne looked up. He must've been given a shock, because his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and he was now awake.

"I'll tell you nothing!" he stammered as Vanquish hobbled in on his cane. The cat remained silent and drew a chair across from him.

"Don't worry, Hawthorne, I won't hurt you… not yet, at least." The cat muttered casually. Once again, Sally felt the same eerie feeling in the pit of her stomach at the way he spoke. He spoke of such violent things so… _casually_. "Now I'm sure you know why I'm here?" Hawthorne nodded. "Good. Now, down to business. Why did Robotnik have your men occupy Old Chicago?"

"Bite me!"

**WHACK!** Vanquish lashed out, quickly and precisely. He smacked his captive on the side of the head with his cane, causing the reptile in question to cry out in pain. Vanquish simply starred at him with a blank expression.

"Funny… Now, tell me what I need to know." Vanquish muttered dangerously. Sally gasped and grabbed a microphone.

"Vanquish, we _never _use physical punishment as a means to get information!"

"Then how else do you get it?" Vanquish asked without looking at them and continued on. "Now where were we…?"

"Right about where I tell you to go fuck yourself!"

**SMACK!** Vanquish stood up and back handed Hawthorne across the face.

'_I know what you're thinking! Don't do it, man! You'll be kicked out of here for sure, and you'll have fucked up this mission for good!'_ Mitch warned from inside the observation room. Vanquish's eye twitched, and he grabbed Hawthorne by the throat.

"You listen, and you listen good… I can hurt you… and then I can hurt you _bad_. The only thing you have control of is which one I choose…" he whispered. "So, if you don't want to get hurt…_ bad_, I'd suggest that you tell me what my employers want."

"I'll never-!" Hawthorne began to choke out, but was interrupted by a stinging slap to the face by Vanquish.

"I warned you…" Vanquish growled and reached for a pair of scissors on a desk nearby…

(…)

"Oh my god! What are you-? AHHHHH! HELP ME! AAAAAH! MY LEG!" Hawthorne screamed. Sonic grabbed Sally and Tails, hugging them and turning them away from the violence.

"How about now? Wanna tell me now?" Vanquish asked casually, holding the bloody scissors.

"YOU WIN! OH MY GOD! YOU WIN…!"

(…)

"…YOU STABBED HIM IN THE THIGH, THEN SNAPPED HIS FEMUR CLEAN IN HALF?" Sally shouted in complete disbelief.

"Yes, I do believe that's what I did." Said Vanquish with a shrug. Sally growled in frustration and slammed her hands on her desk.

"You defied a direct order-!"

"We got what we wanted, didn't we?"

"Yes, we did, but-!"

"Then why should we care about the condition of a petty General?"

"BECAUSE FREEDOM FIGHTERS DON'T HURT PEOPLE! WE DON'T USE CRUEL PUNISHMENTS AS PURSUASION! IT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF BEING THE PEOPLE'S _SAVIOR_!" Sally yelled at him. She snapped her fingers, and twelve freedom fighters streamed out of the shadows. "As punishment for your crime, you will be detained until further notice."

'_WHAT? AFTER WHAT I DID FOR YOU FUCKERS? I BUSTED MY ASS GETTING THAT DAMN TURTLE HERE, AND NOW YOU'RE STICKING UP FOR HIM?'_ Mitch shouted in Sally's face. A hawk slapped a pair of handcuffs onto Vanquish, but the cat didn't fight back. He couldn't. He would have to suck it up and wait out the sentence, lest what little trust they'd acquired be lost. He didn't resist, physically or verbally, as they led him out of the office to the high-security prison cells deeper in the compound…

(…)

_**Back in black!**_

_**I hit the sack!**_

_**I bet you know I'm glad to be back!**_

_**Yes, I'm let loose,**_

_**From the noose,**_

_**That's kept me hanging around!**_

Tyranny was relaxing in his room when he heard a light buzzing coming from his backpack. He paused the small stereo system and swung his legs off the bed. He walked over to his pack and unzipped the main pocket, producing a small laptop-like device. He opened the lid, revealing the fleshy, cyborg face of his father.

"Father, why have you-?"

"No time, my boy!" Robotnik said seriously, cutting him off. "Has Hawthorne been interrogated yet?"

"Yes. Vanquish was sent in-."

"Christ, then it's already too late!" said Robotnik fearfully. "I need you to kill him, first chance you get. Do it quickly and quietly, and make it look natural!"

"Yes, father! What would you suggest?" Tyranny asked. Robotnik thought it over for a moment.

"Come to think of it, Hawthorne is known to have heart issues. Use your cardiac-hypo darts!" Robotnik ordered. Tyranny nodded, and the line went dead. He placed the communicator in his bag and dug around until he found a small metal case. He opened the lid and found five cardiac-hypo darts and a small blow-gun. Cardiac-hypo darts were intended for this kind of covert-assassination. Once they penetrated the blood stream, they would cause your veins to swell, reducing oxygen flow to the heart and causing an artificially induced heart attack.

He loaded a dart into the blow-gun and headed out of the room…

(…)

"AH, MY LEG! HE BROKE MY LEG!" Hawthorne screamed out on the small operating table. Marie hushed him.

"Everything is going to be fine." She said with assurance. The assurance was easily false. How could he-? No. He could. That _monster_ easily could. She sighed and picked up a morphine injection, then stuck it into Hawthorne's leg. He tensed, and then relaxed as the medicine took effect. While he was knocked out, she headed to her office, where she'd left her clipboard. While she was inside, she could've sworn she'd heard the bolt on the outside door open. When she looked back, however, she saw no one, only Hawthorne, lying peacefully on his bed. She shook her head.

"Damn it, girl, you need to get out more. All this time cooped up indoors is making you hear things." She mumbled to herself, brushing one of her long bangs out of her face. She scooped up her clipboard and headed back to the bed. When she got closer, she screamed and dropped the clipboard.

Hawthorne was dead!

(…)

"How the hell did this happen?" Sally asked as she and Sonic briskly walked down the hall towards the medical wing. Sonic shrugged.

"Beats me, Sal." He mumbled. The pair turned the corner and entered the medical wing, where a small group of inspectors was assembled, trying to determine the cause of death.

"What've you got for me?" Sally asked one of the frogs.

"As far as we can tell, General Hawthorne suffered a fatal heart attack. After all, he _is_ known to have heart issues." He replied. Sally sighed and rubbed her temple. She turned to the still shocked, but not frightened, Marie.

"Did you give him anything? Anything that could've caused it? Because if you did-."

"I didn't do anything to him that I was not confident in." Marie said, crossing her arms. The frog from earlier spoke up.

"Princess Acorn, there is no one to blame here. As far as what we can tell, it was by natural causes." He said calmly. Sally sighed once again.

"Very well, take him out of here…" she mumbled and turned to leave.

(…)

"The mission was a success, father."

"Good, good," replied Robotnik with a sinister grin. "Where's Vanquish?" he asked.

Tyranny bit his lip. "It appears he's been detained by the Freedom Fighters."

"WHAT?"

"Yes. Apparently, they don't use brute force when interrogating their prisoners."

"That's probably why they don't know much."

"Precisely."

"Back to the matter at hand. How long do they plan to hold him?"

"Until further notice."

"Good, at least it's not perm-." Robotnik was cut off mid-sentence as Tyranny shut the laptop. He shoved it back into his backpack. Odd, he could've sworn he'd heard something…

Suddenly, the door clicked and swung open just a bit. A black and white furred cat poked her head in.

"Oh, sorry! I got the wrong room!" she said with a sheepish grin. Tyranny smiled.

"No problem, Hershey, happens all the time to me." He said, playing along to work the disguise. That was another part of the plan. They had to make friends with them without getting _too_ emotionally attached.

Hershey stepped through the doorway, leaning against the wall.

"So how are you liking the Freedom Fighters so far?" she asked.

"It's okay, I just wish the food was better." Tyranny joked. They both shared a laugh. As much as Tyranny didn't want to admit it, she _did_ have a very beautiful laugh. Not to mention, a beautiful body to match.

"You know that you _don't_ have to stay in Knothole, right?" Hershey asked. "You can leave whenever you'd like, just don't bring the whole Robotnik Empire back with you."

"Really?" Tyranny asked. Hershey nodded. "Hmm… There is a nice Italian place in Westopilis with a special for couples-."

"Keep dreaming, lover boy." Hershey giggled and turned to leave the room. Tyranny smiled as the door closed. At least, until he heard his communicator buzz again. He pulled it out and was met by the disapproving face of Robotnik.

"Tyranny I've told you. Do _not_ become emotionally involve-!"

"Oh, lighten up, old man! I'm just working the disguise!" Tyranny said with a roll of his eyes. His father's frown grew deeper.

"Whatever. Just keep doing what you're doing and await further orders." He growled before closing the connection. Tyranny hid the communicator again and laid back on the bed, lost in thought. Today had been the first act of unraveling the Freedom Fighters, and overall, killing Sonic the Hedgehog…

**AN: Read and Review!**


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